The present invention relates generally to device supports of the type used to fix a device of any kind or, to be more precise, to fix its mechanism.
It relates more particularly to the situation in which, in the case of electrical devices, fixing is effected in conjunction with the use of trunking to route electrical conductors or cables connected to the devices.
Trunking includes a base section, which has an open cross section, and a cover section, which is adapted to be attached to the base section to close the trunking. This is known in the art.
Several ways of fixing this kind of trunking can be envisaged.
First of all, the fixing can be inside the trunking itself or, to be more precise, inside its base section.
This is more particularly feasible when the base section, which has a generally U-shaped cross section, has a middle part and two lateral flanges with rims along the free edges of the lateral flanges which extend toward each other and to which the cover section is clipped.
It is then sufficient to use a dedicated device support provided with lateral groove means for engaging it over the rims of this kind of base section, between two lengths of cover section.
A device of this type is described in French patent 2 698 738 filed Dec. 1st, 1992 under application number 92 14441.
A device mechanism can instead be fixed into a box which is in turn installed on the trunking (or, to be more precise, on the base section of the trunking) between two lengths of cover section, or alongside the trunking, to which it is then joined by a canopy which caps the base section of the trunking transversely to provide a passage for the electrical conductors or cables concerned, or at a distance from the trunking, to which it is then connected by a branch trunking which routes the electrical conductors or cables.
The box can also be used on its own, without any trunking, for example at the end of a built-in conduit.
In each of the above cases specific arrangements are employed for fixing the device mechanism into the box, with or without a specific individual device support.
A general object of the present invention is an arrangement which has the advantage of using the same fixing device in all foreseeable fixing circumstances, which is beneficial from the point of view of standardizing production and therefore from the point of view of cost.
To be more precise, the invention firstly provides a device support, characterized in that it is associated with a fitting accessory in the form of a plate which has at least two projecting pillars and clipping means at the top of each of the pillars, and in that it further includes clipping means in corresponding relationship to and complementary to the clipping means on the pillars on the plate, by means of which it can therefore be attached thereto; it also provides a box within which the above kind of device support and the above kind of plate can be used.
Thanks to the plate associated with the device support according to the invention, a device mechanism can be fixed to trunking, alongside trunking or at a distance from trunking, or used without any trunking, the same device support and, in the usual way, an appropriate box being used in each case.
The device support according to the invention therefore has the advantage that its great flexibility means that it suits the various corresponding installation conditions.
However, a preferred embodiment of the device support also has lateral groove means that enable it to be fitted, if required, to the rims of the base section of trunking which includes such rims. This further extends its field of application.
Conversely, it is also possible to consider that it is the plate associated with the device support, in accordance with the invention, that increases the field of application of device supports including lateral groove means of the above kind, by enabling them to be fitted into a box.
Be this as it may, the device support according to the invention has the advantage of being quasi-universally suitable for all the usual fixing methods.
UK patent application 2 187 900 describes a box which is associated with a fitting accessory consisting of a plate with projecting pillars for clipping it on.
However, that box does not constitute a device support in the sense of the present invention.
In particular, it could not be used in any other box or incorporate any lateral groove means.
Also, the pillars of the associated plate are merely clips.